STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY
MARK KARIYA
T
he 89th International Six
Days Enduro turned into a
roller coaster of emotional
highs and lows for Team USA,
with American squads taking
three podium spots for the first
time.
Due to the venue being mostly
hot, dry and dusty, pre-race pre-
dictions made the U.S. contin-
gent among the favorites in all
categories. The fact that power-
house teams from Europe would
have to ship all their equipment to
South America as the U.S. (and
also heavily favored Australians)
must do every year also leveled
the playing field.
Most attention was focused on
the FIM World Trophy classifica-
tion, where each country deploys
six of its best riders, the top five
scores among them every day
comprising their team result. The
U.S. had a half-dozen veterans—
Mike Brown, Thad Duvall, Charlie
Mullins, Zach Osborne, Taylor
Robert and Kailub Russell—who
all had great speed and were
probably better prepared than
any previous team.
In the Junior World Trophy for
teams of four riders all under 24
years old, the U.S. relied almost
entirely on rookies—Steward Bay-
lor, Trevor Bollinger and Justin
Jones—with Grant Baylor having
last year under his belt.
It was the same mix of new
and seasoned in Women's World
Trophy, with newcomer Sarah
VOL. 51 ISSUE 46 NOVEMBER 18, 2014 P45
GOLD
JUNIORS
The French win World Trophy but
Team USA makes them work for it
